A mixed-methods study on the changes in teachers’ perceptions of and strategies for student-centred teaching in programming following teacher development courses

Abstract

This study aims to understand how to improve teachers’ perceptions of SCT and their SCT strategies via teacher development, with the purpose of effectively promoting Student-Centred Teaching (SCT) in programming education. A mixed-methods approach was used to investigate the changes in teachers’ perceptions of and strategies for SCT in programming teaching after the teachers attended development courses. In the quantitative investigation, two hundred and twenty-nine teachers responded to a survey, making the response rate 93.4%. According to the quantitative results, the teachers’ teaching strategies became significantly more student-centred after the teacher development courses and they perceived a significant improvement in their student’s learning behaviours. In the qualitative investigation, a thematic analysis of the follow-up semi-structured interviews with 10 teachers further revealed that they knew better how to enable interaction among students. Students’ active interaction with the subject content facilitates the development of expertise, thereby increasing their knowledge and skills. There are two implications of this study. First, the design of a teacher development programme should be based on teachers’ knowledge needs and students’ cognitive development. Second, educational animations and student guidebooks as learning resources are essential for developing students as independent learners.